“They’re multifunctional,” Emerson said. “Blow once if you’re lost. Twice if you’re in danger. You can also use it to add some drama to the otherwise ordinarily mundane actions of sitting down, getting up, or turning the page of a book. The possibilities are endless.”
Alani cut the engine on the ATV and tried her whistle. Weeeoop!
Everyone smiled.
“It’s a slipping on a banana peel whistle,” Vernon said. “I always wanted one of these.” Weeeoop! Weeeoop!
“No more whistling,” Emerson said. “We don’t want the bad guys to hear us.” He handed his iPad over to Wayan Bagus. “I downloaded Rocky III for you. Vernon said you needed to know about manly hugging. We should be back in no more than three hours. I don’t want to be stuck here overnight.”
TWENTY-THREE
Riley took point following the trail in the fog. Emerson, Vernon, and Alani walked close behind her.
“We’ve been walking forever,” Vernon said. “This is like the road to nowhere.”
“Unfortunately that’s a totally accurate description,” Riley said. “We’ve come to the end of the tracks. There’s no more road. And there’s also no more anything, including the missing Jeep.”
Everyone looked around. Riley was right. No more road. No more tracks. No Jeep.
“If it wasn’t for my cool new whistle I’d say this trip was a big waste,” Vernon said. “It’s cold, it’s spooky, and I can’t see where I’m going. I near broke my foot a minute ago on that stupid pipe sticking out of the ground.”
“I didn’t see a pipe,” Riley said. “Where was it?”
Vernon retraced his steps and pointed down at the ground. “It’s just some old waypoint left over by a surveyor.”
Emerson got down on his hands and knees to examine the pipe. “It’s not a surveying monument.”
“How do you know?” Alani asked.
“Because heat doesn’t come out of a survey pipe. This is an exhaust.”
Riley put her ear to the pipe. “It sounds like there’s a generator down there.”
“That would explain the need for an exhaust pipe,” Emerson said. He turned to Alani. “Are there any caves in the area?”
“In this area? None that I know about. There’s a big one on the eastern side of the mountain. It’s called the Paauhau Civil Defense Cave, but it’s really more of a lava tube.”
“What’s a lava tube?” Riley asked.
“It’s a conduit formed by lava flowing beneath the surface of already cooled and hardened magma,” Alani said. “Once the volcano is no longer active and the lava’s no longer flowing, what’s left is a cavelike channel with solid rock walls.”
“Do you think there could be a lava tube under us?” Riley asked. “One that was big enough to hide an R&D lab?”
Alani went still for a couple beats. “I suppose it’s possible. Some are up to fifty feet wide and can be very long. The Kazumura Cave in Kilauea, the active volcano in the southern part of the island, is almost forty-one miles long and the longest known lava tube in the world. There’s also one on Mauna Loa, the mountain just to the south of this one, that runs all the way from the summit to the Pacific Ocean thirty-one miles away, but there’s no record of anything like that on Mauna Kea.”
Emerson looked at the pipe sticking out of the ground. “It all makes sense.”
“Oh boy,” Riley said. “Here we go.”
“I’m listening,” Alani said.
“A hollowed-out volcano is every super-villain’s dream lair. It’s all about location, location, location.”
Riley looked around. “If you’re right, the entrance has to be close.”
“Agreed,” Emerson said. “We just need a bit of luck to find it.”
Everyone froze at the sound of a large, heavy door rolling open.